Former US President Donald Trump addressed a Las Vegas crowd gathered in sweltering 103F heat on Sunday. The 77-year-old is in the midst of his campaign for the 2025 presidency, a battle in which he must outsmart current President Joe Biden, and Nevada is an important swing state that could go either way.
We’re going to do that right away”
The casino industry provides 300,000 jobs in Las Vegas, and Republican Trump clearly knew his crowd. During the speech, he promised that he would remove a tax on tips for hospitality workers. “We’re going to do that right away,” Trump stated. “First thing in office because it’s been a point of contention for years and years and years and you do a great job of service.”
The pledge may have inspired a cheer from his supporters at the time, but it seems that the hospitality workers of Las Vegas are not so easily won over. The Culinary Union, which represents casino workers in Nevada, released a statement in which it deemed Trump’s words “wild campaign promises from a convicted felon:”
The “convicted felon” aspect to the dig refers to 34 counts of falisifcation of business records with which Trump has been charged. This is a felony in New York when the intention is to defraud.
Winning over Las Vegas casino workers is crucial to any hope Trump has of victory in Nevada. However, the Culinary Union has positioned itself as heavily anti-Trump over the past two elections. It has confirmed it will send 500 members out this year to knock on doors and sway people toward Biden.